Everyone gets a chance to play

Glenn Dickey, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, January 15, 2005

Photo: PAUL SAKUMA

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton, of the East Team, prepares to pass during practice for the Shrine Game in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005. The all-star game is Saturday in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) less

Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton, of the East Team, prepares to pass during practice for the Shrine Game in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005. The all-star game is Saturday in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul ... more

Photo: PAUL SAKUMA

Everyone gets a chance to play

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

All-Star games are played differently than regular college games, and today's East-West Shrine Game at SBC Park is no exception.

Because teams have only one week to prepare, everything is kept simple. No blitzes are allowed by the defense because there is no way an offensive unit playing together for the first time could prepare for them.

Usually, defenses are only allowed to play one formation, but that rule has been relaxed to allow two different formations. "We decided to do that because it will give us a little more flexibility," said East head coach Joe Tiller of Purdue, who's only the fifth man to play in the game (1963) and coach it. "It's good for the quarterbacks, too, because it will give them a chance to show they can read defenses."

Offenses are also limited by the small squads. That's especially critical for Tiller, whose Purdue offense often featured as many as five receivers on a play.

"At Purdue, I had 12 receivers and I usually used 10 of them in a game," Tiller said. "Here, we only have five receivers on the squad."

Both Tiller and West coach Mike Riley said they would be rotating players in and out of the game. "I told my players that we haven't had enough time to decide first and second teams," Riley said. "Somebody has to start the game, but we'll be substituting frequently so everybody gets a chance to play."

It's especially critical for quarterbacks to get an even shot. Riley plans to play Derek Anderson, his quarterback at Oregon State, in the first quarter and Timmy Chang of Hawaii in the second quarter. Shrine promoters had held a spot open for either Aaron Rodgers of Cal or Utah's Alex Smith when they declared for the NFL Draft, but both declined, so Dustin Long from Sam Houston State was added and will play the third quarter.

"The fourth quarter is up for grabs," Riley said, "but we'll probably play the quarterback who has looked the best. You always want to win the game, even if it's an all-star game."

Tiller said he would play his Purdue quarterback, Kyle Orton, in the first quarter, Stefan LeFors of Louisville in the second quarter, and Ryan Fitzpatrick of Harvard in the third quarter. Like Riley, he'll play the quarterback who has looked the best in the fourth quarter.

It's no coincidence that Tiller and Orton are both here. "I was invited first," Tiller said, "but I'm not stupid. I knew they were hoping I'd bring Kyle with me."

That was a no-brainer for Orton, who welcomed the chance to play one more game for Tiller and his assistants, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and defensive coordinator Brock Spack. "It gives us one last chance to show what we can do together," Orton said.

That's especially important because injuries to Orton killed Purdue's chances to play in a major bowl game. The Boilermakers started very strong, but Orton sustained a hip bruise against Michigan and pulled an abdominal muscle the next week.

"He basically couldn't rotate his body for a month," Tiller said.

Because of those injuries, Purdue fell back and Orton's chances for All- America honors vanished. He still finished with impressive career numbers, third in Purdue history with 8,534 passing yards and 54 touchdowns.

He's healthy now and has a chance to impress NFL scouts in this game and next week's Senior Bowl. Orton also has his favorite receiver, Taylor Stubblefield, as a target today. Stubblefield has the all-time Big Ten career record with 304 receptions, and his 3,388 career receiving yards are second in Purdue history.

Today, he'll get a chance to prove that -- for at least one quarter, anyway.

Briefly: Cal tight end Garrett Cross was a late scratch because of an ankle sprain sustained in Thursday's practice.

Today's game

Where: SBC Park

TV: ESPN, 11 a.m.

Radio: KNBR (680 AM)

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.